NEW YORK, N.Y. - Hugh Mangum's fondest memories of Houston are eating barbecue with his father.

In the late 1990s, Mangum was the drummer in a Los Angeles-based band called Maypole. They toured around the country opening for The Wallflowers and performed in Houston once or twice a year. His father, the late Hugh Mangum III, lived in the Heights.

"The band loved barbecue, so (my dad and I would) drive out to Dozier's and buy racks of barbecue ribs to take back to the band," Mangum says. Dozier's, a traditional Texas meat market in Fulshear that serves barbecue for lunch, was his dad's favorite.

Barbecue had been a constant in Mangum's life. His dad, a native Houstonian who traveled the world as a federal employee, was a "weekend warrior" who grilled and smoked meats in his backyard; father and son bonded over the activity. Still, back then Mangum had no idea how important barbecue would be in his future.

Like many aspiring musicians, Mangum loved his job but struggled to find a steady income. He decided to move from L.A. to New York City (where his mother was from) and attended the French Culinary Institute to follow his passion for cooking.

More Information

He graduated in 2001 and began working as an apprentice in some of the Big Apples's top restaurants. He met his future wife Laura in school and they had three sons over the next few years - Quinn, Lucas and Henry. Mangum was faced with supporting a wife and three kids while living in Manhattan and working as a sous chef. The income was steady, but not enough to make ends meet.

He decided to take a chance and pursue the passion for smoked meats he developed while growing up cooking with his dad at home. In 2011, he and his wife opened a barbecue booth at Smorgasburg, a flea market of food stalls in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that has become well-known for fostering culinary talent in the New York City area.

"I had no idea if anyone would even show up," Mangum says. His booth would eventually become known for having the longest line at the market.

The next year, he partnered with stepbrother Micha Magid and Magid's brother-in-law Christos Gourmos to open a brick-and-mortar barbecue joint in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood. Ironically, though perhaps not coincidentally, the restaurant is located in the building that formerly housed the Fillmore East, one of the city's most storied music venues. Mangum named the restaurant Mighty Quinn's after his oldest son.

The big break came in 2013 when Pete Wells, restaurant critic for the New York Times, gave Mighty Quinn's a glowing review. Crowds of barbecue-neophyte New Yorkers descended on the restaurant. Mangum's Texas-influenced barbecue became the toast of the town.

After several years of perfecting recipes and operations at the East Village location, Mangum and his partners sought to expand. They opened a central commissary that now services four location in Manhattan, two in Brooklyn and one in New Jersey (the original location still cooks on-site). Recently, Mangum and his partners were approached by a restaurant group in Taiwan and will be opening an outpost in Taipei next year.

I've been going to the East Village location since it opened and, if anything, it just keeps getting better. On a recent visit, Mangum's brisket was easily some of the best in New York City and rivaled the brisket at many Texas barbecue joints.

Though his barbecue is mainly Texas-influenced, Mangum has added his own personal touches including an excellent pulled pork, Kansas City-influenced burnt ends and a memorable slow-cooked and smoked pork cheeks dish.

However, it's the meaty, smoky pork ribs that may be my favorite dish here. They are a fitting tribute to the trips to Dozier's he used to make with his father. Mangum's mini-empire of barbecue continues to grow in New York and around the world, with a nod to his family's roots in Houston.

A native of Beaumont, J.C. Reid graduated from the University of Southern California after studying architecture and spent his early career as an architect in New York City. He returned to Texas in 1995, retiring from architecture but creating his own Internet business in Houston. As his business became self-sustaining, he began traveling Houston and the world to pursue his passion: eating barbecue.

He began blogging about food and barbecue for the Houston Chronicle in 2010 and founded the Houston Barbecue Project in 2011 to document barbecue eateries throughout the area. Just last year, Reid and others founded the Houston Barbecue Festival to showcase mom-and-pop barbecue joints in the city. The 2014 event drew 2,000 guests to sample meats from 20 restaurants.